The Climate and Weather of Winnipeg, Manitoba

Located in Southern Manitoba, Winnipeg endures very cold and occasionally rather brutal winter temperatures. Canadians in other provinces sometimes refer jokingly to “Winterpeg”, Manitoba.

Winnipeg has a cold continental climate with a short, very warm summer and a long, cold winter. Despite the cold weather, Winnipeg’s skies are among the clearest in Canada and Winnipeg enjoys much sunny weather all year round.

Snow depths of greater than 1 cm are seen on about 132 days each year in Winnipeg, compared with about 10 days each year in Vancouver, 35 days in Penticton, 65 days in Toronto, 88 days in Calgary, and 120 days in Ottawa.

Winnipeg has a windy climate, which it owes to its prairie location. There are few natural barriers to prairie winds, allowing them to sweep down from the Arctic in wintertime.

The combination of very low temperatures and high windspeed is dangerous – and can be life threatening. Weather forecasters in Manitoba issue warnings not to venture out in such conditions.

Although Winnipeg endures lower winter temperatures than Toronto, people who live in Winnipeg claim their city’s dry winter cold is more pleasant than the damper cold in Toronto.

Science lends some support to these claims. Toronto is more overcast in winter than Winnipeg, so there is more radiant heating from the sun in Winnipeg than Toronto. Furthermore, the wet snow in Toronto is warmer than the powder snow in Winnipeg and as a result adds more moisture to the air. Moist air carries heat away from the skin more quickly than dry air does, hence Toronto can feel colder than someone from Winnipeg might expect.

The winter air in Winnipeg is so dry that many householders use humidifiers in their homes to add moisture back into the air. Many people feel uncomfortable in very dry air, and there can be problems with skin drying and cracking.

Winnipeg, Manitoba

Month of year

Av. Daily Max. Temp. (°C)

Av. Daily Min. Temp. (°C)

Av. hours Sun (per day)

Av. Days with Rain

Av. Days with Snowfall

Av. Depth Snow on Ground (cm)

Av. Wind Speed(km per hr)

Jan.

-13

-23

3.9

1

12

18

17

Feb.

-9

-19

4.9

1

8

20

17

Mar.

-1

-11

5.8

3

7

13

18

Apr.

10

-2

8.0

5

3

3

18

May

19

5

9.2

11

1

0

18

Jun.

23

11

9.4

13

0

0

16

Jul.

26

13

10.2

11

0

0

15

Aug.

25

12

9.0

10

0

0

15

Sep.

19

6

6.0

11

0

0

17

Oct.

11

0

4.7

8

2

0

18

Nov.

-1

-10

3.1

2

9

5

17

Dec.

-10

-19

3.2

1

11

10

17

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